Friday, June 13, 2008

Bookends

I finished Bookends by Jane Green last night. I'm not going to lie, I really liked this book. In my opinion, it is by far her best book, at least of the ones that I've read so far.

It had all the solid qualities of a good chick lit book - main character in her early 30s, working single professional, dating and romance, and of course the witty, gay best friend. Better yet though, there was more to it than just the basic formula. The characters all seemed like actual people and the story was well written. I genuinely liked (and related to) the main character and her relationships with her friends. It also touches on many of the things that we go through in our late twenties/early thirties - career changes, having kids, realizing it's been 10 years since college, reuniting with old friends and the guilt surrounding having lost touch with them in the first place. I'm not sure the book warrants a more in depth analysis than this, but I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a break from some more serious reading.

On a side note, I think I really am on to something with the whole gay best friend in chick-lit thing. I should probably go back to grad school and write my thesis on "The Role of the Queeny Best Friend in Modern Fiction Targeted at Females ages 25-35". Do we all have an inner fag hag dying to come out? These are the types of serious questions I will address in my thesis.

So I plan to start The Inheritance of Loss by KiranDesai during lunch today. The back of the book describes it like this:In a crumbling, isolated house at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas lives an embittered judge who wants only to retire in peace, when his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, arrives on his doorstep. The judge's cook watches over her distractedly, for his thoughts are often on his son, Biju, who is hopscotching from one gritty New York restaurant to another. KiranDesai's brilliant novel, published to huge acclaim, is a story of joy and despair. Her characters face numerous choices that majestically illuminate the consequences of colonialism as it collides with the modern world.

Sounds good, right? I'll let you know what I think. In the meantime, I think I may take Amy up on her comment suggestion and buy Into the Wild or Thunderstruck (or both!) for my upcoming Alaska trip.